For intensity of geographical exploration and wealth of first-rate adventure writing by intrepid men and women; the 19th century stands alone. This collection contains 35 stories from the most compelling odysseys of the century including Fridtjof Nansen's attempt to walk to the North Pole; Mary Kingsley's solo foray into the jungles of West Africa; Richard Burton's forbidden pilgrimage to Mecca; Mary Mummery's harrowing first ascent in the Alps; and Francis Parkman's buffalo hunts with the Sioux. The excerpts are as varied as the voyages themselves - some humorous and light-hearted; others desperate and thrilling. From the search for the source of the Nile to the first crossing of the Himalayas; this book ranges the globe and captures the restlessness of the human spirit.
#66074 in Books Toobin Jeffrey 2016-08-02 2016-08-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.60 x 1.10 x 6.40l; 1.25 #File Name: 0385536712384 pagesAmerican Heiress The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Review
98 of 106 people found the following review helpful. Heiress; revolutionary; or both?By Jill MeyerMost people who were around in the mid-1970's will remember the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by a hapless band of revolutionary players; the Symbionese Liberation Army. This group; whose main members were - as Jeffrey Toobin puts it in his new book; "American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping; Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst" - as differentiated as a fox-hole in a war-time movie. There was the black revolutionary - "Cinque" or Donald DeFreeze - the white revolutionaries - Emily and William Harris; the gay revolutionaries - Camilla Hall and Patricia Soltysik; and various; other hangers-on. The SLA was a group of urban guerillas; who seemed determined to wreck the system; but were stymied on what to put in it's place.And who was Patricia Hearst? As Toobin describes her; she was the heiress to a fortune but was sort of drifting through life; so far. The daughter of mismatched parents; she was the middle of five daughters; raised by her mother to aim for the conventional wealthy woman's life - marriage to an eligible man and a life raising children of her own. In stark contrast to the free-living members of the SLA; Hearst at 19 was living with a much older man - Steven Weed - in a married-like life; while studying at the Berkeley campus of the University of California. On the night of February 4; 1974; Patricia Hearst was kidnapped from the town house in Berkeley by the SLA and forcibly turned into a "revolutionary" by her kidnappers. Or; did she join in the ensuing mayhem willingly?There began an almost two year spree by the SLA; with Hearst - now called "Tania" - as an active participant. Bank robberies; shootouts; and blackmailing for food distributions to the poor were all part of mid-1970's in San Francisco and Los Angeles. This group - which literally and thankfully couldn't shoot too straight - made headlines. I can still remember where I was when I heard Patricia Hearst had been found and rescued. But what was she rescued from? And what was her role in the SLA's crime spree?Author and attorney Jeffrey Toobin does an excellent job in relating the people; the times; and the effects this rag-tag group - with its "prize" member - had on California and society at large in those years. Hearst has now became the settled society matron her mother had groomed her to be; raising daughters and prize-winning dogs. The others who are still alive are living with various degrees of revolutionary fervor. His book is beautifully written with much less sensationalism than you might expect on the subject.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A new and illuminating look at one of the crime of the last century.By Peter M. HerfordWhether you are old enough to remember or do not remember the Patty Hearst kidnapping welcome to a revisit with new insight or simply a fascinating human portrait and tale of challenge and derring do. Mr. Toobin's lawer credentials mixed with his journalist status is an elegant combination of skills that offers a balanced view of "who was and who is Patty Hearst". Mr. Toobin has his views; but he does stint on a profile that offers alternate views. The reader is left with everything she/he needs to draw your own conclusions. The facts are laid out with courtroom precision. Mr. Toobin's fluid writing style make this a page turner. It is also in no small measure an evocation of another time; standards and history that is fast receding in this digital age. It was a simpler time yes; but no less humanly complex.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. GRAND SLAMBy Howard PolskinTobin has produced a page-turner that is both an adventure story and history lesson about the blah period of time between the end of the Woodstock era and the beginning of Reagan America. All the major characters come to life vividly and he takes readers deep inside the revolutionary SLA. He makes no bones about Hearst's guilt or innocence (guilty all the way) and that strong POV propels the book. Even though I'm a baby boomer; her story never really intrigued me but once I picked up the book and got 3 pages into it; I couldn't put it down. Pounce!
